Hollywood movie studio and distributor Paramount Pictures has announced that they have acquired the rights to a live action film adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s 2016 critically acclaimed anime film Kimi no Na wa. (your name.). Paramount Pictures will be producing the film with Bad Robot, J.J. Abrams’ production company in which he will also be directing the film.

J.J. Abrams (Star Trek [2009], Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) is set to direct the upcoming film, in conjunction with Toho who distributed the original anime film – and will do so with the Hollywood adaptation.

Abrams will also be producing the film, along with Bad Robot’s Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane, Star Trek Beyond) and Toho’s Genki Kawamura (Kimi no Na wa., Naruto: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow). Academy award nominee Eric Heisserer (Arrival) will be writing the screenplay for the film.

We are excited to collaborate with an extremely talented team in Hollywood. And to create with them a live-action version of the iconic Japanese film ‘Your Name.’

Yoshishige Shimatani, CEO of Toho

Toho’s Kawamura mentions that the collaboration with Abrams and Heisserer will be the perfect combination to bring the film to international audiences.

Mr. Abrams and his team have captivated audiences in their masterful reinvention of known properties. And Mitsuha and Taki have found a perfect narrator, Mr. Heisserer, to tell their sci-fi infused love story, which gave the film such drive. The meetings so far have been creatively stimulating with fantastic ideas that no doubt will make for a great movie. I am greatly honored to work with these incredible creators in bringing to audiences the Hollywood live-action version of ‘Your Name.’

Kimi no Naw wa. first released in theatres across Japan on August 26 and is still showing in select cinemas. With its ¥25 Billion gross, it is the 4th highest grossing film in Japan of all time. The film is currently behind Disney’s 2013 animated film Frozen, sitting in 3rd with ¥25.5 Billion (~ US$228.2 Million).

The film has broken numerous records where it has taken the crown to be the highest grossing anime film of all time. It has currently grossed over $354 Million (~ ¥39.6 Billion) at the international box office, overtaking Studio Ghibli’s 2001 anime film Spirited Away, which ended its international run at ¥32.96 Billion (~ US$289 Million). The film’s limited release in North America had a gross of US$5,004,629 (~ ¥559, 238, 909).

The film will release on Blu-ray and DVD in North American regions on November 7th.

Makoto Shinkai is a well known anime director who got his start in the industry in 1997 directing the short film Other Worlds. His first major breakthrough in the industry was 2002’s Voices of a Distant Star, which won various awards including the Animation Kobe award and the Seiun Award. Since his debut 20 years ago, his films have received acclaim and recognition for the films’ plot, use of mature themes and breathtaking visuals. One of his more recent hits is 2007’s 5 Centimeters Per Second, which won the award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Shinkai’s most recent feature film is 2013’s The Garden of Words.

Kimi no Na wa. synopsis:

The story is set one month after a comet has fallen for the first time in a thousand years in Japan. Mitsuha is a female high school student who lives in a rural town nestled deep in the mountains. Her father is the mayor and isn’t at home much, and she lives with her elementary school-aged little sister and her grandmother. Mitsuha has an honest personality, but she doesn’t like the customs of her family’s Shinto shrine, nor does she like her father participating in an election campaign. She laments that she lives in a confined rural town, and yearns for the wonderful lifestyle of living in Tokyo.

Taki is a male high school student who lives in central Tokyo. He spends time with his friends, works part-time at an Italian restaurant, and is interested in architecture and fine arts. One day, Mitsuha has a dream where she is a young man. Taki also has a dream where he is a female high school student in a town in the mountains that he has never been to. What is the secret to their dreams of personal experience?

Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot have acquired the rights to produced a live action Kimi no Na wa. film, directed by J.J. Abrams. Further details about the movie will be revealed in the upcoming months. The anime film will be out on Blu-ray and DVD on November 7th in Noth America, via Funimation.

Kimi no Na wa. will be out on Blu-ray and DVD on November 7th in Noth America, via Funimation.